Posts from the “book stuff” Category

A couple of things caught my eye while I was busy catching up on all things Internet earlier today, in particular this piece at Suzy Feay’s Book Bag – Where are all the female reviewers (hat-tip to the F Word), and this piece by Jane Bradley at For Books’ Sake – Novel Women at the ICA. In the first article, Suzi Feay comments on the dearth of female book reviewers, an issue that’s become the focus of much discussion following the publication of VIDA’s 2010 survey into the (under)representation of women in literary magazines. Indeed, as Feay points out: “The figures are hard to refute: a survey analysing the LRB, TLS, NYRB and newspaper books pages found startling imbalances. In some cases, 75% of…

I’ve just finished setting up a new blog, Away from the Fray, which I’ll be using from now on to post book reviews and book related stuff on. So if I’m not here, or on CiF, or Twitter, or one of the gazillion and one other places I lurk on t’Internet, you’ll probably find me there.

I’m a bit swamped at the moment so I haven’t really got time to do this subject the justice it deserves. But just in case anyone’s forgotten, here’s a quick reminder that the Orange Prize for Fiction winner will be announced tonight. Personally I’m rooting for either Barbara Kingsolver, for The Lacuna (which I nearly gave up after the first couple of chapters but which I’m so glad I persevered at), or Lorrie Moore for A Gate at the Stairs. My (purely hypothetical) money’s actually on Hilary Mantel for Wolf Hall, but, despite my earlier vow to read all the shortlisted books this time round, as I didn’t manage to read that one, (and to be perfectly honest, no amount of bribery would ever…

My oldest daughter, the poet, wrote some more poems, and now they’ve been put together and published in a book. It’s called Bridge, and it’s available online from Gatehouse Press. And I might add, it’s well worth a read. And yes, I am shamelessly promoting my own daughter. But that’s not just ‘cos I’m her mum and it’s my job, it’s because she’s a wonderful poet and I’m really proud of her, as I am of all my children. And anyway, if “I carry books like babies on my hip” isn’t one of the best first lines of a poem, ever, then I don’t know what is.

Dismayed at Company magazine’s decision to take down her frothy feminism-lite quiz following none-too-happy feedback from other feminists, Ellie Levenson of “The Noughtie Girl’s Guide to Feminism” fame has now posted said quiz up on her blog. So I’ve just given it a go. And fuck me, what a surprise: I got mostly B’s. Here’s what Ellie has to say to B-scoring-man-hating-second-wave-humourless-femnazis like me: “You are definitely a noughtie girl – you are feminist and proud of it. Not only that but you’ve read all the literature and probably set up a women’s group of your very own to discuss the failings of men and society generally. But feminism has changed this millennium – noughtie girls know there’s more than one way to be…

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"Those of us who love reading and writing believe that being a writer is a sacred trust. It means telling the truth. It means being incorruptible. It means not being afraid, and never lying."
Andrea Dworkin

"Sex-negative feminism consists of, what, Andrea Dworkin and that weird Cath Elliott woman at the Guardian?"
Someone on the Internet